due to weather i am not making it down there until Saturday. anyone have advice? i will have internet access down there to check this thread

cheers

Alex,

Thanks for the advice, and for your excellent suggestions both on this thread and others. I will be on the lookout for Benegas.

Cheers,
Nick

Nick-- my pleasure, good luck hunting for the Benegas... ^

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

Good news for those wanting to bring back a nice quantity of their favorite Argentine wines to the US. Here is the official rule explained on the TSA website. The 5 liter rule applies to flammable products, but wine is not one of the substances that is regulated because it does not fit into the alcohol content category.

Please see below in RED the limitations for hard licquor, and in BLUE the explicit exclusion of liquids such as wine that are below 24% alcohol content:

Carrying Alcohol In Your Checked Baggage

Please note, you can’t take alcoholic beverages with more than 70% alcohol content (140 proof), including 95% grain alcohol and 150 proof rum, in your checked luggage.

You may take up to five liters of alcohol with alcohol content between 24% and 70% per person as checked luggage if it’s packaged in a sealable bottle or flask.

Alcoholic beverages with less than 24% alcohol content are not subject to hazardous materials regulations.

Link to the TSA website:

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtrav...rial_1189.shtm

good article in today's WSJ (fri, june22) on wines of argentina. limited to malbec

arg imports have caught chile. no surprise to me, as many dislike the taste of carmenere, and it is put into almost everything coming out of chile.

first choice was a Rutini 2004, high on the list was a nieto sentiner reserva 2004(at 7 bucks).

also mentioned

Caro
el felino
terazas de andes
alamos
LA POSTA DEL VINATERO "ANGEL PAULUCCI VINEYARD"
SUSANA BALBO (DOMINIO DEL PLATA

Caro is a joint venture between Catena Zapata and Rotschild.

El Felino is a Malbec made by Californian Winemaker Paul Hobbs.

Terrazas de los Andes is a subsidiary of the French Luxury Goods Conglomerate LVMH.

Alamos is a brand of the Catena Zapata group.

Dont know the last two labels mentioned.

Here's the link to that article in today's Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/tastings.html
Very positive indeed and I already have a couple of the recommended ones.

Rutini, the top wine in the above "survey" is made by Mariano Di Paola, chief winemaker at Rutini who is one of Argentina's best known and respected winemakers. Di Paola also makes a line of wines from his own bodega, Mapema which are also very good.

Here's a weekend wine tasting note I wanted to share with all of you:

Benegas Don Tiburcio 2004
Mendoza, Argentina

Great QPR blend of Cabernet, Malbec, Merlot & Cab. Franc made by Federico Benegas. Intense red color with shades of violet... balanced and inviting nose of plums and red fruits. Nice attack, big mouthfill that has the right amount of acidity, fruit, and oak thats well integrated. Medium+ finish. Great value at approx. USD12 per bottle.

While Argentina makes some great Merlots, much of it goes into the high-end blends made by various producers. Here is a 100% Merlot that is IMO very special and also offers attractive QPR.

Banfi Cinco Tierras Premium Merlot 2003
Mendoza, Argentina

Made from old-vines from the sub regions of La Consulta & Agrelo, this 100% Merlot is aged in French Oak (50% first year) for 12 months. Shiny deep red color, complex nose of fruits, coffe & spices. Big attack full of very ripe red fruits, good balance and finish. Only 8,000 bottles produced.

from Wine searcher.

Cinco Tierras Familia 750ML 2002
90 POINTS - A proprietary blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Malbec. It is remarkably robust, tannic on the end, and very rich, and very deep in this price class. It is intense, too, not a fruit bomb, and there are touches of acid on the finish. This is opulent and powerful, rather tightly wound, too. Very nice. This winery is known as "Banfi" in Argentina but cannot market that way here. Their other label here is "Sorbus." $30.

fi

Looks like this is the wine. these people give 20% off for full cases, and ship, although I cannot find shipping prices. they are in NJ.

Cinco Tierras Res. Merlot 750ML 2003
87 POINTS - Well focused and sunny, this is a very pleasing Merlot. There are cherry nuances and the fruit is relatively expansive and open. There is no reason this can't be drunk now, and should be treated as a short term wine. It is a wine that is extremely pleasing and attractive at this point, gentle, flavorful and balanced. $13.

I presume this "Banfi" is not the same BANFI as in the great Lambrusco of Long Island and now holder of square miles of Montalcino,

You are correct, the Argentine Banfi (Cinco Tierras) is not the same producer as the Italian Banfi mentioned above.

Regarding wine in your checked baggage
Just returned from Buenos Aires with 15 botles of wine- 2 six packs boxed and 3 bottles in luggage wrapped in bubble wrap. The only potential problem we had was checking in at the Delta counter when asked about the wine we had boxed- when we said we had 12 bottles in the boxes, the agent started quoting the 5 liter rule- I protested that it only covered hight alcohol bottles- anyway it was resolved by assuring her that the bottles in the six packs were less than a liter. Two of us were travelling and the agent who took our bags told us that the 2 boxes of wine had to be checked under different names because of the 5 liter rule ( which really does not apply). At the US Customs end- we declared 15 bootles of wine and all we heard from the customs agent was "welcome home".

Thanks to Gaucho for all his advice and time!!!!!

Thanks for your report.... its important to have folks start to tell these bozo gate agents that they are WRONG about the 5 liter rule which DOES NOT apply to wines.

Wirelessly posted (Palm TX: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x320)

BTW, if someone has experience with AA ou UA quoting the 5 liter rule, please report this. Until now, Ive heard only of CO and DL agents trying to pose problems with this.